Vending-machine.



No. 768,271. PATENTED AUG. 23, 1904.

w. DIEBEL. VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 11. 1903. N0 MODEL. 7 4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

'1 I l/IIIIIIII 0 Inventor ,1 Zgzww; lrzzaamzad PATENTED AUG. 23, 1904.

W DIEBEL VBNDINGMAGHINE.

m) xov. 11. 1903-.

APPLICATION IIL 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

No. 768,271. PATENTED AUG. 23, 1904 W. DIEBEL.

' VENDING MACHINE.

APPLIQATIOH FILED NOV.11, 1903. '10 MODEL. 4 SHEET8-SHEET 4.

izvenar:

UNITED STATES Patented August 23, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

VENDING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 768,271, dated August 23, 1904.

Application filed November 11, 1903. Serial No. 180,677. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM DIEBEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia,countyofPhiladelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Vending- Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in vending-machines, and has for its object to provide a machine of this description and adapted especially for the sale of cigars, it being obvious, however, that it may be used for the sale of other articles with but slight'alterations without changing the principle of the invention, as it is well known coin-actuating mechanism will unlock the slide, so as to allow the same to be operated by hand, and will automatically lock the same after one article has been delivered. In a case where the motor is used the coin-actuating mechanism will release the motor and allow the same to operate until the slide has been driven to the rear by the motor to deliver the article and then returns to its normal position, when the motor will be automatically stopped by the coin-actuating mechanism.

In the drawings I have illustrated the machine as being operated by a motor; but it is obvious that the same mechanism could be utilized to lock and unlock the delivery-slide, which is actuated by hand, as shown in my former application for patent, Serial No. 122,319. I

With these ends in view this invention consists in the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then specifically designated by the claims.

In order that thoseskilled in the art to whichthis invention appertains may understand how to make and use the same, the construction and operation will now be described in detail, referring to the accompanying drawings,

, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section through the machine, showing all the parts in their normal position; Fig. 2, a similar view to Fig. 1, showing the position of the parts after a coin has been inserted; Fig. 3, a rear elevation of the interior of the machine; Fig. 4, a perspective view of the tilting coin-chute in its normal position; Fig. 5, a perspective view of the tilting coin-chute in the position of releasing the coin.

A represents the casing of the machine, the

back A of which is hinged, so as to open to gain access to the operating parts of the mechanism and to remove the money from the machine. The merchandiserholder is adapted to be held in the upper portion of the machine at B.

C is the delivery-slide, upon which the articles to be vended' are adapted to rest, and one article is adapted to fall in the pocket C of the delivery-slide, which is normally closed at its lower end by the platform I), and when the slide is pressed rearward of the platform the article will fall out of the pocket 0 into a suitable merchandise-chute (not here shown) and be delivered to the exterior of the machine.

E is the'motor which drives a crank E, to which a pitman F is connected, the other end of the pitman being connected to the lower end of a lever G, pivoted at the point G, the upper end of the lever being pivoted to one end of a-link H, the other end of the link H being pivotally connected to the delivery-slide the delivery-slide is driven rearward and returned to its normal position.

E is the governor of the motor, which may be in any form desired, here shown as a revolving blade.

I is the coin-chute, the coin being inserted at the point I. This chute extends clownward to a point below the delivery-slide and then turns at right angles and extends rear- C, so that with each revolution of the crank E ward on a slight incline, the rearward opening being just above the tilting coin-chute J, this tilting coin-chute being formed of two parallel sides and a bottom and is pivoted to the-casing of the machine at the point J, the rearward end of this chute J being connected to one end of a spring K, the other end of the spring being connected to an adjustable strip K, this spring K being sufliciently strong to hold the forward end of the chute J upward in its normal position, but said chute being so evenly balanced by the spring that when a coin passes the pivotal point J in the chute the weight of the coin will be suflicient to stretch the spring K and depress the forward end of the chute J, as shown in Fig. 2. Pivoted to the forward and rearward ends of the chute and extending laterally across the same are the strips L and L, respectively. These strips form what I designate as gates and are adjusted to such a position that the propersizecoin cannot pass from the chute at either end until these gates are raised; but the adjustment is so fine that a coin slightly smaller will pass underneath the gates, and a coin larger than the proper-size coin cannot be inserted in the machine on account of the opening 1 being formed for just the proper-size coin. These gates L are normally held down by the spring-arms M.

N is a shaft journaled to the chute below the same and extending longitudinally thereof. Each end of this chute has secured to it the upwardly-extending arms 0 and O, the upper end of these arms being bent or having formed thereon cam-surfaces O and when these cam-surfaces are broughtin contact with the pins P, extending outward from the gates L, said gates will be raised.

Q is an arm secured to the shaft N, and the lower end of this arm turns at right angles and is arranged within the path of travel of a dog R, pivoted to an extension G of the lever G. When the chute J is in its normal position, the end Q of the arm Q lies underneath the nose of the dog R, and when the forward end of the chute J is tilted downward by the weight of the coin and when the dog R travels forward and downward by the movement of the lever G the nose of the dog R will pass the end Q because of the fact that-the dog R is free to turn upon its pivot, so that the nose may be rocked upward and pass the end Q"; but when the lever Gr begins its return movement, and thereby raises the dog R, the upper surface of the nose of the dog will then be brought in contact with the under surface of the end Q of the lever Q and will press upward upon said end Q because of.the fact that the dog is prevented from turning downward on account of the pin R limiting the movement in this direction, and therefore pressure will be exerted upon the outer end of the lever Q, which will cause the shaft N to be rocked, and thereby press the cam-surfaces 0 into contact with the pins 1, so as to raise the gates, and on a continued movement of the dog R upward the nose of the dog will snap past the end Q, and then the parts will resume their normal positions, as the spring K is then free to pull the chute J into its normal position, for the coin has been previously released by the raising of the gates.

S is a rod connected to the rearward end of the chute J, and the lower end of this rod is adapted to lie normally within the path of travel of the governor-blade E so as to render the motor inoperative; but when the coin lies at the forward end of the chute J the rearward end of the chute is thereby raised and the rod S is pulled upward out of engagement with the governor-blade and remains so until the coin has been released by the raising of the gates and the dog R has passed above the end Q of the lever Q. Then the spring K is free to act and in returning the chute J to its normal position causes the rod S to travel downward again, engaging the governor-blade and stopping the motor.

Thus it will be seen that the operation of the device is briefly as follows: The propersiZe coin being inserted in the chute I will travel downward and pass into the chute J, and said coin would naturally with its impetus travel rearward in said chute and strike the forward gate L; but said gate being down the coin could not pass underneath, and as the chute J is normally arranged on a slight incline forward the coin would then naturally roll toward the forward end of the chute and come in contact with the forward gate L, when this movement would be arrested and the weight of the coin would depress the forward end of the chute, and thereby start the motor by raising the rod S, and the coin would remain in the forward end of the chute until the article had been delivered and until the forward gate L had been raised, as before described. Then the coin would pass outward into the proper chute, which carries the same to the money-box of the machine.

If a coin slightly smaller in diameter than the proper-size coin is inserted in the machine, said coin being a little too large to pass unnerneath the gates, but still slightly under size, such as a much-worn coin, said coin would be liable in passing rearward against the rear gate L to press said gate upward slightly, so as to wedge underneath the same, and then of course the machine would not operate, and it would be required to insert a proper-size coin into the machine to operate the same, and the impact of this proper-size coin against the coin wedged underneath the gate would then act to either drive the worn coin underneath the gate into the chute T: where it could be conveyed either to the money-box or to the exterior of the machine, so as to be returned to the customer, or said impact would drive the coin sufficiently far-,

gate was raised to release the proper-size coin at the forward end said worn coin would 15611 out of the rear end into said chute T.

In order to cause the coin to roll rearward against the rear gate L and also to allow thecoin to enter the'chute J at a uniform speed instead of dropping into the same, I provide in the lower right-angle portion of the chute I a lever U, pivoted to the chute I at the point, U, the forward end of said lever Ubeing connected to a spring U said spring being of such a strength that when the coin passes rearward 'of the pivotal point U it will depress the lever U into the position shown in Fig. 2, so as to allow the coin to enter. the chute J with a rolling motion instead of drop-' ping abruptly into the same.

V is a lever pivoted in the upper portion of the. chute I, said lever being provided with 'twoarms V and V the armV normally closing the chute I on account of the weighted portion V of the lever holding said arm in this position; but when a coin is inserted in the chute and drops upon the arm V saidv arm will be pressed downward, thus bringing the end of the arm V intocontact with the forward wall of the chute I above the coin and allowing the coin to pass the arm V and travel onward down into the chute. Thus if a string or thread is attached to the coin for the purpose of removing the coin after it has actuated'the machine said string or thread will be caught between the end of the arm V and the forward wall of the chute I, and'thus prevent any further downward movementof the coin, and then the spring must be pulled upon, so as to pull the coin upward, before the machine can again be operated.

W is a short crank secured to the shaft N upon the chute J, and to the-outer end of this crank is attached a rod X, which extends upward and is then bent so as to extend over the top of'the chute. If two or more coins, one after the other, should be dropped into the machine before the machine has operated once, this rod X when the shaft N is rocked by the arm Q would pass behind the coin about to be released and in front of the next coin just behind the coin to be released, and thus hold the other coins back until the forward coin had been released and the gate N hasresumed its normal position. Thiswould prevent more than one coin passing outof the machine at a time and allow. the customer to receive articles for each coin deposited.

Of course I do not wish to .be limited to the exact construction here shown, as slight modifications could be made without departing from the spirit of my invention. I

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and useful is- 1. In a coin-actuated Vending-machine, the combination ofa stationary coin-chute and delivery-slide with a tilting coin-chute, said tiltin}; coin-chute pivoted to the casing, a spring secured atone'end to one end of the tilting coin-chute, the other end of the spring adjustably secured to the casing of the machine, said spring adapted to hold the other end of the tilting chute upward its normal position, the weightof the coin, when said coin rolls to the other end of the chute opposite the spring, adapted to depress this end of the chute against the action of the spring, a gate located at the end of the chute'opposite that end to which the spring is connected and arranged in such a position that normally it will prevent the proper-size coin from rolling out of that end of the chute, but allow a smaller-size coin to pass underneath the gate, aspring normally holding thegate downward, mechanism controlled by the tilting chute allowing the delivery-slide to pass rearward and deliver the article to be vended when the chute is tilted bythe weight of the coin, and also allow the delivery-slide to return to its normal position, means for raising the gate and allowing the coin to pass from the tilting chute when the delivery-slide is returning to its normal position, as and for thepurposespecified ,2. In a coin-actuated vending machine. a casing, a delivery slide, a stationary coinchute, a tilting coin-chute arranged to receive the coin from the stationarychute, said tilting chute pivoted ,ona horizontal pivot at a point intermediate between its two ends and normally inclined forward and i downward from the end where 'it receives-the coin, a

spring connected at one end to the rearward end of the tilting chute and at the other end to an adjustable strip' secured to the casing, gates pivoted at each end of the tilting chute and extending laterally across above the same,

saidgates, so arranged that when in their normal position they will not allow a proper-size coin to pass underneath the same, but will allow a coin to pass underneath that is slightly smaller in diameter, springs adapted to hold the gates downward in their normal position, a motor, va lever extending from themotor to the delivery-slide for operating said slide, a governor for governing the motor, a rod extending downward from the rear end of the tilting chutev in the path of travel of the governor to normally hold the motor inoperative, the weight of the coin after passing forward ofthe pivotalpoint of the tilting chute adapted to press the forward end of the chute against IIO the action of the spring and thereby raise spring to act to return the tilting chute to its normal position and cause the rodto again engage the governor and stop the motor, as specified.

3. In a coin-actuated vending-machine, the combination of a casing, a delivery-slide and a stationary coin-chute with a tilting coin-- chute adapted to receive the coin from the stationary chute, said tilting chute being pivoted intermediate of its two ends upon a horizontal pivot to the casing and arranged upon a slight incline downward and forward, a spring secured to the rearward end of the chute and adapted to normally hold the forward end of the chute upward, the coin when entering the tilting chute adapted to roll forward, and when forward of the pivotal point of the coin will depress the forward end agai nst the action of the spring, gates pivoted at each end of the tilting chute and extending laterally across the same, said gates when in their normal position preventing the coin from leaving the ends of the chute, springs for holding the gates downward, a shaft journaled underneath and to the tilting chute extending longitudinally of the same, arms connected to the shaft at each end and extending upward therefrom, pins extending outward from the gates, said arms adapted to come in contact with said pins when the shaft is rocked so as to raise the gates, a lever secured to the upper end of the leverconneeted to the delivcry-slide, an arm extending outward from said lever above the pivotal point, a dog pivoted upon the outer end of said arm, said dog adapted to come in contact with the outer end of the lever connected to the shaft on the tilting chute so as to rock said shaft and raise the gates, an arm extending upward from said shaft and adapted to pass between the coin about to be released and any coins behind the same when the shaft is rocked so as to hold the rearward coins from passing outward with the forward coin, and means for starting the motor when the chute is tilted downward and stopping said motor when the chute returns to its normal position, as specilied.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto all: fixed my signature in the presence of two suhscribing witnesses.

\VflLLl AM 1)] ERIC l1.

\Vitnesses:

MARY E. HAMuu, L. \V. l\'l()RR1S()N. 

